For pool 5, first performed in 2022 at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, Turato delivered a stream-of-consciousness monologue where Turato channeled her inner CEO. The amalgamation of rhetoric she starts off with eventually unravels into what feels like ChatGPT blather confidently masking as human dialogue.
Though some moments seem random, Turato’s word-play creates space for personal interpretation and abstraction. Intuitive and metaphorical meanings sprout from the performances and produce further depth and context into the show.
Her latest iteration in the series, pool 6, a performance piece performed with it's not true!!! stop lying!, is interested in the obsession of self-optimization. Using shifting personas and a plethora of voices, as well as holotropic breathwork and hypnosis (which are new modalities for the artist), Turato addresses the anxiety of perfection.
Satirizing the lexicon of self-help, her performance examines the relationship of perception, the daily routine, and constant comparison. Video work based on the performance is also on view at the gallery, and the wall-sized projection shifts from word to image to speech with varying inflection.
Nora Turato is on view at Sprüth Magers through April 27, 2024.